The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 28, 1993
Filed:
Sep. 27, 1991
Richard P Johnson, Kingwood, TX (US);
Ashbrook-Simon-Hartley Corporation, Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
An apparatus is disclosed for composting of organic matter. A ram advances the entire mass of organic matter within the composting chamber to create an evacuated space in the composting chamber, which evacuated space is of substantially greater volume than the volume of an incremental inlet space. The incremental inlet space is a space in the composting chamber defined by a projection of an inlet opening into the composting chamber. After the creation of the evacuated space, a new charge of organic matter is fed through the inlet opening. The ram then moves this new charge of organic matter into the evacuated space in the chamber to join the existing mass of organic matter already in the chamber. The ram also lightly compresses the new charge to a predetermined density or porosity. Typically, the extent of compressive force applied to the new charge is less than that required to move the entire mass of organic matter through the chamber. In this way, the new charge remains sufficiently porous and uncompacted so as to facilitate drying with air which is circulated through the chamber. Once the new charge is sufficiently dry, the entire mass of organic matter may then be moved by the ram to create a new evacuated space in the chamber.